The painted glass of the 14th century was more vivid in color, broader in style, and the ])ainting better exe- cuted ; but it was less pure in conception, and less strictly subordinated to the general architectural eflect. One of the best examples of English work of this i)eriod is the east window of Bristol Cathedral. Other characteristic examples occur at York Minster; Exeter Cathedral; the chapel of Jlerton College, Oxford ; Tewkesbury Abbey Church; Norbury Church, Derbyshire; Lowick Church, Northamptonshire, etc.
In the loth century a great change took place in glass-painting. The windows became still more indi- vidualized, and less dependent on the architecture. The subjects occupied a larger space, and were treated more as pictures. The details are put in with much care, and verj' skilful manipulation is exhibited throughout. But the color is poor, white glass is chieHy emploj'cd, and the general effect is cold and comparatively feeble. Some of the examples — the earlier ones especially — are, how- ever, very elaborate and impressive. Of this class is the magnificent east window of the choir of York Min-
ster, which consists of no fewer than one hundred and sixteen compartments, each having a separate suliject.
By the end of the 15th century Gothic architecture was everywhere dead or dying. The aim of glass- paint- ers was to rival the effects of oil-paintings; and windows were mere imitations of oil-pictures, the glass being treated as if it were a canvas or panel. Examples are to be seen in the splendid series of twenty-seven large windows of King's College Chapel, Cambridge, 1527 and succeeding j'ears; the great east window of St. Margaret's, Westminster; Fairforil Church. In France there are numerous fine examples of KJth-cen- tury windows in the cathedrals of Bourges, Auxerre, Auch, Beauvais, Sens, Rheims, etc.
From this time glass-painting fell more and more into disrepute, though windows continued to be painted, and some glass painters, especiallj' in France, acquired a cer- tain celebrity. The renovation of the art was coincident with the revival of (iothic architecture. It has since been studied earnestly by archaeologists, and pursued zealously by a numerous bodj' of practitioners. Hither- to, however, little original power has been exhibited in the designs ; the object aimed at being mainly to pro- duce faithful imitations of medieval glass, the style being of the 13th, 14th, or 15th century, according to the taste of the patron. There is a kind of ornamental window-glass called matted work, in which the glass is covered with a very fusible composition, either white or tinted, reduced to a powder. This powder is then re- moved from certain parts of the glass, according to the required pattern, and, after firing, produces on the glass a dull ground with a bright pattern. Another method of ornamenting glass, rather inappropriately called em- bossing, consists of a bright figure on a dull ground. This is etched with hj'drofluoric acid.
The following are works to consult as to the history of the art : Gessert, Geschichte der Glasmalerei in Deutsch- laiid und Niederlande^i, Frankreich, England, etc. (Stutt- gart, 1839, 8vo) ; Lasteyrie, Histoire de la Peinture sur Verre d'apies des Monumens en Finance (Paris, 1838-56, 2 vols, fol.) ; Warrington, History of Stained Glass from the Earliest Period of the A rt to the Present Time (1848, 1 vol. fol.) ; Weale, Divers Works of Early 3f asters in Christian Decoration (1846-47, 2 vols. fol.). For author- ities on the theory and practice of the art, consult the English Cyclopcedia, A rts and Sciences, art. " Glass," to which article we are indebted for most of the above in- formation.
Stair (usually n^S'.P, or il^?.^, an ascent; once n5"i"I"?, Cant, ii, 14, a jjrecipice, "steep place," Ezek. xxxviii, 20; bib, a "winding stair" or staircase, 1 Kings vi, 8). The expression translated "on the top of the stairs" (2 Kings ix, 13) is one the clue to which is lost. The word rendered " top" is gerem, C^S, i. e. a bone, and the meaning appears to be that they placed Jehu on the substance, i. e. the very stairs themselves, if r'lb>^ be stairs, without any seat or chair below him. The stairs doubtless ran round the inside of the quadrangle of the house, as they do still, for instance, in the ruin called the house of Zaccha-us at Jericho, and Jehu sat where they joined the flat platform which formed the top or roof of tlie house. Thus he was con- spicuous against the sky, while the captains were below him in the open quadrangle. The old versions throw little or no light on the passage; the Sept. simply re- peats the lleljrew word, tTri to yapffi tCjv avajia^fiwv. Josephus avoids the difiiculty by general terms {A nt. ix, C, 2). See Jonrn. Sac. Lit. 1852, p. 424.
Stairs. Respecting church-stairs a few facts may lie noticed. At Tamworth, where the church was colle- giate and parochial, there are double stairs to the tower for the use of the several ringers before the respective services. Two sets of stairs also lead to the upper chap- el at Christchurch, Hants, probably for the accommoda- tion of persons visiting the relics, one being for access
STAIRS
980
STALLS
and the other for ej^css. At Bamack there is an oc- ' nip, kaneh, a reed [as often]; hence the strawy sfem
of grain, Gen. xli, 5, 22; rr^p, A-amdA, the /la?7« of the same, IIos. viii, 7). See Plant.